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From skeletons to single dads, these are movie Santas you can't forget

St. Nick's celluloid history full of naughty and nice

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Updated: 3:10 PM EST Nov 23, 2016

APSOURCE: AP

From skeletons to single dads, these are movie Santas you can't forget

St. Nick's celluloid history full of naughty and nice

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Updated: 3:10 PM EST Nov 23, 2016

He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good – so go check out his movies before you end up on Santa Claus’ naughty list.

The jolly old man has a long cinematic history, and it’s no surprise this is time of year for his closeup. In fact, he’s back on the big screen this week as Billy Bob Thornton dons the red suit once again as a crass thief in “Bad Santa 2.”

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While most Santas take a gentler approach, Thornton’s Claus made for a fun and surly St. Nick the first time around, joining the pantheon of memorable takes on the character. Here are some more famous Santas over the years.

Miracle on 34th Street

Regarded as one of Hollywood’s finest holiday classics, this 1947 charmer is like a non-lethal “Law and Order” meets the North Pole.

Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor playing Kris Kringle, a New York City department store Santa who tells a young girl he’s the real deal. Eventually, he’s pulled into court to prove the claim and with some help from an earnest attorney and the Post Office (of all places), Kris wins the case.

The film was remade in 1994 with Richard Attenborough wearing the red cap.

The Santa Clause

What happens when you unintentionally kill Santa Claus? You take his job.

That’s the lesson Tim Allen learned from this 1994 fantasy-comedy that kicked off a trilogy of popular flicks. Allen’s divorced dad Scott Calvin (see the initials?) magically begins putting on weight and growing a great white beard as the “Clause” kicks in. After some hemming and hawing, Calvin embraces the position. Sequels would see him find his own Mrs. Claus and battle Jack Frost. Jumping the shark might be set for an unannounced fourth film.

A Christmas Story

This was a bad Santa before there was a “Bad Santa.”

Late into Ralphie’s quest for his coveted Red Ryder BB gun – stymied thus far in his attempt to sway the adults in his life – the bespectacled hero turns to an exhausted mall Santa as his last-ditch chance to earn his prize. However, after waiting through an enormous line, Ralphie freezes on Santa’s lap, absently agrees to wanting a football, remembers his mission before slipping down a slide, makes his pitch – and gets shut down.

Green, grim and severely lacking in good cheer, the Grinch is the anti-Santa.

Based on a story that ranks among Dr. Seuss’ most sentimental, the titular character sneaks into the Christmas loving tale of Whoville to snatch ornaments, trees and gifts. The plan goes awry when the townspeople wake not to cries but carols. The Grinch’s emotional 180 at witnessing the moment is enough to make anyone’s heart grow three sizes.

Jim Carrey put his all into the role in a 2000 live-action adaptation, but it’s the 1966 animated television special that remains a seasonal staple.

Santa Claus: The Movie

Hardly beloved with a 17 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this 1985 fantasy is notable if only for giving Santa a serious backstory.

Per the 1985 film, David Huddleston’s Claus was a generous woodcutter who hundreds of years ago saved from a blizzard and was charged by the North Pole’s mystical elves to deliver toys to the world’s children. What followed was an odd tale about the commercialization of Christmas, reindeer zooming like the Blue Angels, candy canes that make you fly and a hammy villainous turn from Jon Lithgow.

Say this, “Santa Claus: The Movie” really tried to do it all.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Tim Burton’s 1993 claymation musical has more than one Santa. There’s the regular old elf from the holiday world of Christmas Town, and then there’s Jack Skellington’s seriously misguided rendition.

The bony Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, melancholy after years of providing frights, finds the way to Christmas Town and is enchanted – so much so that he organizes Santa’s kidnapping and usurps the holiday for himself as “Sandy Claws.” Of course, the residents of Halloween Town can’t overcome their ghoulish natures, and Jack’s Santa becomes a wanted man.

We all learn a lesson in the end, and the real Santa is rescued from the clutches of Oogie Boogie’s bogeyman. And just as the movie makes it work with two Santas, it’s a perfect fit for two seasons.

Santa’s Slay

Say goodbye to your childhood memories of Santa. In this horror-comedy, former pro wrestling star Bill Goldberg plays a St. Nick who’s anything but jolly. In fact, he’s the son of Satan, here to spread Christmas misery as a holiday-themed mass murderer.

“Miracle on 34th Street,” this ain’t.

Some may scoff at the sight of Santa wreaking havoc at a family dinner or in a gentlemen’s club, but he does it with a smile on his face and a wink at the camera. You won’t forget it.